South TA residents protest against African infiltrators

The protest against African migrants renewed on Sunday, when some 150 residents marched from Tel Aviv's Hatikva neighborhood to the government compound in Tel Aviv.

The protesters carried a coffin, with the names of south Tel Aviv neighborhoods written on it. Upon reaching the government compound several speakers delivered speeches and later held a "wake" in memory of the neighborhoods.

During the rally, several protestors noticed an African employee at a nearby restaurant. They shouted at him, and tried to shatter the restaurant's windows.

Tel Aviv south neighborhoods residents rally (Photo: Moti Kimch)

The African employee run inside the restaurant and waited for several minutes until the police arrived and arrested a few protestors.

Guy Zalmanovich, a south Tel Aviv resident said: "The state deserted us but together we will kick them out. I don't care if they are infiltrators or not – who has the guts to approach the 15-year-old girl that was brutally raped on Independence Day? Obviously not the Israeli government."

May Golan, who resides near the Tel Aviv central bus station said: "We are being buried alive and no one cares. People call me a racist but if I have to protect my own life being a racist than I'm proud to be one. Bibi and Lieberman want to join forces in order to shut us up, but we shall never stay silent."

The neighborhoods' representatives claim nothing has changed since the protest was initiated last year. The protestors called upon all parties to include in their platform an urgent plan dealing with the African infiltration.

Tel Aviv Councilman Shlomo Maslawi said
:"There is no doubt this is a ticking bomb. Currently only a few infiltrators manage to enter due to the border closure and the government considers its job done, but we are still stuck with 60-70,000 of infiltrators already present."

The protestors suggested the infiltrators would be transported to the prime minister's residence in Caesarea and Rehavia neighborhood in Jerusalem.

Maslawi added: "The State Control Committee report stated that south Tel Aviv's crime rate increased by 400% and we won't keep quiet any longer. The thing we fear the most is this becoming a routine. We call for change before the situation deteriorates."